News From the Nest

New on the Blog

Meet Clover! Our brand-new Knit Bunny Pattern is the kind of project that knits up faster than you’d expect and turns out sweeter than you planned. He stands about eleven inches tall with long floppy ears that give him that slightly sleepy, well-loved look, and there’s not a complicated stitch anywhere in the pattern. He takes less than half a skein, so he’s very much a make-him-from-what-you-already-have project, and tuck a little bow at the base of those ears, and Clover becomes a darling girl bunny.

Knitting and Crochet

Since Clover is knit in eight pieces and seamed at the end, this is the week to brush up on the Mattress Stitch. It’s basically foolproof and gives knitted work a nearly invisible, professional finish, and the post covers both vertical side seams and cast-on/bind-off edges. If you’ve been whip-stitching your seams and wondering why they look bulky, this one’s for you.

If Clover puts you in the mood for more small people projects, the Knit Teddy Bear Pattern is his natural companion, built much the same way with most pieces worked in the round and the ears knit flat. He asks a little more of you with an invisible lifted increase and German short rows to sculpt that gently sloped snout, but both are explained right in the post. Knit the two in coordinating yarn and you have a shower gift that will get talked about.

The knit-geek in me is still swooning over the stitch in the Diagonal Basket Weave Washcloth, which mimics woven cloth and looks far more complicated than it is. There are four videos in that post, so there’s truly no excuse not to try it. Reader Thelma wrote in to say, “I’m NOT a fan of dish or washcloths; but you can bet your last penny that I WILL be making these.”

Recipes from the Kitchen

A little spicy, a little smoky, the Jalapeño Cheese Spread is essentially a pimento-less pimento cheese, made with smoked Gouda and Gruyère instead of the usual cheddar. It comes together in about ten minutes and actually tastes better made a day ahead. I just took it over to a dinner gathering this weekend, and it was devoured! Reader Lori also served it at her book club, where everyone loved it, and it made a dent in her jalapeño harvest.

We all have those pantry staples we get a little panicky about running out of, and the Chili Seasoning Recipe is one of mine because I use it in so many recipes. Made in bulk with ancho as the base and a bit of chipotle for smoke, it means you’ll never be caught short again, and it also doubles as the base for taco seasoning. The post also sorts out the chili-versus-chile confusion once and for all.

Five minutes of prep and twenty on the stove is all it takes for the Best Marinara Sauce, which relies on San Marzano tomatoes, fresh garlic and basil, and a healthy glug of good olive oil. The simplest sauce really is the best sauce, and once you’ve made and enjoyed it, I’m sure you will agree!

And of course that sauce needs something to go over, which brings us to the Oven Baked Meatballs. Ricotta, milk-soaked bread, and a gentle hand are the secrets to meatballs that stay tender, and baking them is a good deal neater than frying. Reader Heather admitted she isn’t much of a meatball fan but really enjoyed these, and her husband immediately requested a repeat.

Since today is National Waffle Day, consider this your sign to fire up the waffle iron for Sourdough Discard Waffles — crisp outside, tender inside, and just tangy enough without tipping into sour. They’re not overly sweet on their own, which leaves room for anything from berries and whipped cream to a fried egg and sharp cheddar on top. Best of all, they freeze beautifully, so a weekend batch means real breakfasts all week and one less cup of starter down the drain.

Peaches are sneaky fruit. One week the bins are full of hard green ones, and the next they’re perfectly ripe and I’m buying far more than any household needs, which is exactly how Peach Cobbler with Cardamom came to be. The cardamom went in almost on a whim and turned out to be the thing that makes people ask what’s different about this one — warm, a little floral, never showy. Under that craggy buttermilk-and-cream biscuit topping, it’s pantry staples and a bag of peaches, which is a lovely way to put something special on the table without spending much. Perfect timing for National Peach Day on Thursday.

With everyone tightening their belts, the breakdown of Groceries to Buy on a Budget is worth bookmarking. It gets specific about which fruits and vegetables cost the least per pound, when canned or frozen genuinely beats fresh nutritionally, and where the real savings hide. There’s also a challenge in there I love: set aside a couple of “eat what we have” months each year and cook almost entirely from the pantry and freezer.

And because National Dog Day lands on Wednesday, the four-legged crowd deserves something too. Sweet Potato Dog Chews are about as simple as a recipe gets — one ingredient, sliced and slowly dehydrated in the oven or dehydrator — and they’re loaded with vitamins A, B6, and C plus calcium, potassium, and iron. The trick is the thickness: too thin and you’ve made chips, too thick and you’ve made rubber.

Arts and Crafts

I’d been hankering after an Oyster Shell Mirror for years but could never swallow the thousand-dollar-plus price tag on the ones in stores. Turns out the whole project comes down to finding the right adhesive, and the shells themselves can often be had for free if you’re willing to ask at a local fish market. It took one morning and turned out better than I’d hoped, and it’s still one of my favorite things I’ve ever made.

House and Home

Revere Pewter has been having a moment on interior walls for years, but Revere Pewter on Exterior Brick shows what it does outside, with Kendall Charcoal on the shutters and doors. The before-and-after on our previously pinkish-red brick still surprises me, and the way the color shifts warm in afternoon light is half its charm. The post also walks through the honest pros and cons of painting brick, because it’s a decision that’s fairly permanent.

Reupholstering had been on my someday list for years, and this post on how I Reupholstered a Chair covers what I learned doing it for the first time. It wasn’t easy, but it wasn’t worth the anxiety I’d built up either, and the tips about labeling every piece as you remove it and buying an actual staple puller will save you real grief. I pried out roughly 1,897,534 staples with a screwdriver and pliers, so you don’t have to.